Mountjoy Castle

Mountjoy Castle lies on a hill overlooking Lough Neagh, in the hamlet of Brockagh, northeast of the town of Coalisland, in County Tyrone, in Northern Ireland.

Mountjoy Castle was built as a campaign fort between 1602 and 1605 by the British Earl of Mountjoy, who was Lord Deputy of Ireland. He started construction of the present castle after he had captured the, now disappeared, O'Neill fort of Fuath na nGall, which translates as 'Hatred of Foreigners'.

Mountjoy Castle was built out of distinctive red clay bricks, manufactured locally at Coalisland. It is 2 stories high, the lower story being stone-faced on the outside. It consists of a central rectangular block with 4 spear-shaped angle towers with gun loops. The northwest tower is partly demolished and the west curtain wall is destroyed.

In the war of 1641 Mountjoy Castle was taken by Turlough O'Neill, who kept possession of it till his total defeat by General Monro, in 1643. It was dismantled by order of parliament in 1648 and it has been in ruins since.

This structure is more like a fort than a castle and I found it difficult to get a sense of how the castle must have looked originally. The castle is freely accessible.

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